South Carolina vs Louisville 4/1/22 Women’s College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Louisville Cardinals and South Carolina Gamecocks meet Friday in the college basketball Women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four at the Target Center. The Louisville Cardinals look to make their third ever title game and first since 2013. The South Carolina Gamecocks look to make their second ever title game and first since 2017.

The Louisville Cardinals are averaging 72.2 points on 45.6 percent shooting and allowing 55.2 points on 36.6 percent shooting. Hailey Van Lith is averaging 14.5 points and 3.4 rebounds, while Kianna Smith is averaging 11.9 points and 2.9 rebounds. Emily Engstler is the third double-digit scorer and Olivia Cochran is grabbing 5.1 rebounds. The Louisville Cardinals are shooting 36.1 percent from beyond the arc and 71.7 percent from the free throw line. The Louisville Cardinals are allowing 28.3 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 38.2 rebounds per game.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are averaging 71.1 points on 42.6 percent shooting and allowing 50.5 points on 32.7 percent shooting. Aliyah Boston is averaging 16.8 points and 12.2 rebounds, while Destanni Henderson is averaging 11.1 points and 3.9 assists. Zia Cooke is the third double-digit scorer and Laeticia Amihere is grabbing 3.8 rebounds. The South Carolina Gamecocks are shooting 30.8 percent from beyond the arc and 67.6 percent from the free throw line. The South Carolina Gamecocks are allowing 26.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 48.2 rebounds per game.

The Louisville Cardinals have the defensive effort to hang around or even steal this game late, especially with South Carolina being hit or miss offensively as of late. Louisville has allowed 66 or fewer points in each of its last 11 games. With that said, South Carolina has been the best team in the country from start to finish and has the best player in the country in Boston. South Carolina has lost just one game since January, and usually wins by a comfortable margin in these contests. Sometimes it’s best to just ride consistency and back the more trustworthy team, and it doesn’t get much safer than the Gamecocks this season.

I’ll lay the chalk with South Carolina.